Some real-time (and now after-the-fact) notes and conclusions from the Solaris 10 launch:
* Sun is making the argument – big-time – that the conventional wisdom around the commoditization of operating systems is not only false, but highly flawed. That’s nice, but more interesting is that some of the evidence they’re providing is impressive. Again, that’s nice, but even more important than that is the fact that Sun’s customers are saying the same thing.
* Sun execs are not shy about admitting to past neglect to low end platforms from a Solaris perspective, but are convinced that Solaris 10 is very well positioned to tackle that. Drivers may still be an issue at times, but I’d expect that to be addressed shortly.
* Overheard – “We were solving problems customers didn’t have.” DTrace, its contended, changes that.
* Note to Sun – want the open-sourcing of Solaris to be successful? Apart from the licensing, which is key, make your Solaris 10 “rock stars” open source celebrities. Bryan Cantrill, Mike Shapiro and the others are very, very impressive. Interface them with the community properly, and get them involved, and you’re going to have a serious leg up.
* Overheard – Question: “What the best performance improvement you’ve seen from DTrace?” Answer: “147%, in three minutes.”
* Another Note to Sun – the naming scheme for these events could be a bit sexier. NC04Q4? Seriously? Did I hear a “niner” in there?
* Conspicuously absent from this launch? Java. Not really a story, as Sun is as committed to the platform as ever, but the lack of Java talk was notable given its ubiquity at most other Sun events.
Update: Added the picture and a few other notes.
